The Beautiful Life

I think I might have uh cut the bloopers off there.

There were some bloopers getting ready to come up on there, hopefully.

Uh man, I hope that you've been so blessed already to be gathering and worship here in this place today.

And it is, it is good.

It is so good to be able to celebrate Mother's Day and to celebrate all the women who've had such a great you have such a great impact on more people and in bigger ways than you know.

And it has it's felt a little emotional today hearing Missy's story, watching that video, talking to other of you ladies in the hallway before worship, and just um seeing your stories written out, hearing your stories.

It's powerful.

And uh as I was thinking about what to share with you today, um, even I can't help but wonder, uh, wonder is not even the right word.

I I don't even want to wonder where I would be if it were not for the women in my life that God has placed in my life.

Uh amazing women, godly women who've prayed for me and loved me in ways that even I'm still fully trying to comprehend.

Um, you've probably heard me talk about my mama uh on my dad's side, my my dad's mom.

Uh we call her mamma Boggs.

This is a really old uh 90s picture of me, actually.

I had a different kind of hairline back then.

Um but this this is this is a really, really amazing place that means a lot to me in this picture, the kitchen of my mamma.

Uh there was so much love that was given and poured out on me and my sister and my family in that little kitchen in Cumberland, Kentucky.

Uh, whenever I would come home to visit from college, she would make sure she made a pot roast cornbread, mashed potatoes, green beans, and we would bring out cards and play and just love and laugh, sing and be silly together.

Uh, this lady here, uh, she uh went to a Holiness Pentecostal church in Harlan County.

She had her own tambourine on the front row.

Uh that was my mamma.

Uh but her backstory, it's funny what you don't know till you get older and you start asking more questions.

But I remember when my dad was telling me, like, hey, she um grew up, she was uh when my when I was little, she and my dad, my papa on his side, had a very abusive, alcoholic, toxic marriage.

And I never saw any of that.

That happened way before I was born.

And her story is a story of almost breaking free, breaking out, finding Jesus, and completely devoting her life to her Lord and Savior Jesus.

Um, and our whole family was changed because of that decision she made.

It wasn't easy, it was messy, it was rocky.

Uh, even my papa, who was in that marriage with her, was a different guy by the time I grew up, and he was pretty ornery still.

Um, but I saw him even change over the years, and especially before he passed.

Um, the power of just a sweet, amazing, good, good cooking, Jesus-loving mountain woman.

Um, I'm not, I don't know where I'd be, have no clue where I'd be if it weren't for her.

And then I got my mama uh that I want to show you a picture of, my sweet mama.

God uh packed a whole lot of love, energy, and hardworking uh affection all in a little four foot eleven, 90-pound body.

Uh, my mom, uh Paula, and um I tell her all the time, like, mom, my my dad's an introvert.

He wouldn't mind telling you that.

He likes to use as few words as possible usually in his life.

My mom was the opposite.

And uh I tell her, I'm like, you taught me how to love well, how to be affectionate, how to every extroverted bone in my body I got from you, mom.

And um, she is so amazing and she's so selfless.

I try to love on her this morning, and I shoot her a message, and we've been talking, and then she ends up sending me this morning the story of my birth um and how much I meant to her when I was born.

I'm like, okay, this isn't Sun's Day, this is Mother's Day, Mom.

Um, but yeah, I don't know where I'd be.

Like, she was so forgiving, merciful, gracious, sacrificial all my life, my mom.

You know, I had a lot of other second moms and grandmas just being in ministry.

Uh every church that I've been so blessed to serve in, there was always someone there that was almost kind of like a motherly figure.

I think about a lady named Miss Lois at First Baptist Jellico, where I served while I was in college.

Um, I actually lived for a week with Miss Irma Parks when I came on staff at Dry Ridge Baptist Church in Grant County.

And she and Linda Cole and Becky Yelstock were kind of like mama figures.

They they felt sorry for that single Harlan County guy that didn't know how to cook, so they fed me well.

Um, I came when I came here in '98, uh, Mary McKinley uh was like immediately like a second mama in my life.

And other ladies like Dora Sharon, Boots Tillett, Faye Gilvin uh just took me under their wings.

And I say all that to say that's why we celebrate all the women on Mother's Day, uh, because you're making impact on more than just the people really directly connected to you.

Just being who you are, where you are in Christ is making a big difference.

Uh but I got a lot of other mamas in my life.

I remember being so nervous to take my girlfriend Sherry Roy to LaGrange, Kentucky to spend Easter weekend.

And I was gonna spend the night there in her home.

Her dad's a minister.

So I was about to hang out for the first time for a whole weekend with a minister and his wife, and I was super nervous.

My stomach was in knots, and I was like, yeah, I'm gonna get to know you.

I know how close you are to your mom.

So if you know my my mother-in-law, Luella Roy, who I'll show you a picture of here, when I met her, I was like, oh, ministers' wives be different.

She's feisty, she's a bowl of fun, man.

Just the greatest sense of humor, hilarious.

I've probably laughed till I've cried more with this lady than maybe anybody else in my life.

So blessed to get to see uh have a front row seat to this mom and seeing how my wife is so close to her.

I struggled finding a picture of my stepmom.

She don't like her picture taken about, you know, not that long ago, my son got married.

I'm like, oh, I think I got a selfie with my stepmom.

And this is my stepmom who um came into our lives decades ago and is such a woman of deep abiding faith.

Actually, my mama all kind of set up my dad with her.

It was kind of a whole cool church thing uh that caused that all to happen.

But this is one of the strongest women I know.

Faith that can move mountains.

Um, and she's been such a blessing to us.

But uh every time Mother's Day comes around, I the one I've had a real close front row seat to watching be a mom is my bride Sherry.

And I'm telling you, so selfless, so thoughtful, so hardworking.

Um, I feel like my job, if you know my wife at all, she's so selfless and thoughtful and will do anything for anybody.

I felt like my role was to keep her from being so selfless.

Like, no, you can't have her French fries.

You know, that was my job as a dad was to say, I'm gonna break it off.

My mom's gonna starve if I don't stop right there.

She gives all her food away to the kids.

Um, and so I'm so blessed to get a front row seat to watching her be a mom and pretty soon be a grandma.

Um it the journey of the women I've had in my life that I've seen, and I've only named uh a few.

There's so many in this very room whom I know you, and you're friends of mine, and I've seen who you are in Christ.

Ladies, I'm so grateful for you, and the people sitting near you are so grateful for you.

You make such a mighty impact.

God made you, he loves you, he's writing your story, and it's for his glory and for the good of those around you in your life.

You make a powerful impact.

I want to begin our time together in God's Word by making this statement.

Women, with Jesus Christ at the center of your entire life, your life and impact on others will absolutely become spiritually beautiful.

A beautiful life.

Hearing Missy share her testimony, there's a lot of brokenness, a lot of painful chapters and moments in her story, yet it's so beautiful.

We uh years ago did a whole message on how our lives are basically all mosaics, you know, where it's just a bunch of shattered pieces put together by the artist to look to create something beautiful.

We've all gone through things, we've all made mistakes, we're not perfect.

And I made these wonderful women that God has put in my life sound so perfect, but they're not.

They're imperfect creations of God who are allowing their lives to be redeemed by the the beautiful grace and love of Jesus Christ.

And I just want you to know that that's true of you guys.

It's true of us who would dare let Jesus be the center of it all.

Man, he will make our lives and our impact spiritually beautiful.

Want to lean into that word beauty for a little bit.

Uh, beauty is definitely in the eye of the of the beholder.

Uh, there are certain things that you might look at and see and say, that's beautiful.

And others might look at it and say, eh.

I have a friend of mine who went to see the Grand Canyon and was like, eh, big old hole.

Came all this way to see that.

And I'm like, how dare you?

That is the most beautiful.

It's like amazing, it's incredible.

So it's in the eye of the beholder.

Yesterday I got to do a brunch with Sherry, and I almost felt a tear come in my eyes.

They brought us an iron skillet of food.

I'm like, an iron skillet with food in it is one of the most beautiful sights to me.

Oh, if you're gonna serve that in an iron skillet, you have my heart, you know.

Uh it's in the eye of the beholder.

Uh, a friend of mine, Brian Harmon, who goes to church here too, uh, was uh he's an art teacher and he was taking pictures with a special camera at King's Island of roller coasters.

I'm like, ooh, that's a beautiful picture of a roller coaster.

But I know some people, when they see a roller coaster, they say, that's terrifying, maybe even evil.

You know, so it's in the eye of the beholder what you think is beautiful.

Here's the thing I believe is true of us as humans, we don't always say this at all, but I believe we are all chasing after beauty.

We want a more beautiful appearance, and we chase after that.

We want we want a more beautiful experience, and we chase after that.

We want a more beautiful existence, and we chase after that.

And like I said, that's in the eye of the beholder.

Uh what you think is beautiful and wonderful might be different for someone else, but we're chasing after it.

And so what I want to do is look at a passage of scripture.

It's Proverbs chapter 31, and it's the very last chapter of this book.

Proverbs 31 · chapter mention

What's beautiful about the book of Proverbs, it's it's the anchor book of wisdom writings.

In the Old Testament, the wisdom writings are Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes.

Proverbs is kind of the anchor.

What's kind of nice about the book of Proverbs, if you want to like up your wisdom game biblically, you can read one chapter a day for a month, 31, 31 days in a month, and really fill your cup full of all kinds of amazing, godly wisdom in Proverbs 31.

At the beginning of Proverbs 31, and uh this was written by Solomon, King Solomon, probably the wisest man who may have ever lived.

He asked God for wisdom in a pretty powerful moment in his story when he could have asked for power and he could have asked for wealth.

He asked for wisdom, so God gave him wisdom, and he also gave him wealth and power as well.

But at the very beginning of Proverbs 31, we're gonna read it in a moment, it's say it says that what's about to be read is from a person named King Lemuel.

And I don't know if you've heard much about this King Lemuel guy.

Scholars have studied and and and maybe speculated really who this might be.

The word Lemuel means devoted to God.

We're pretty confident this might be completely fictional, and it's just kind of a poetic way to end the book of Proverbs.

There are some scholars who have a theory, though, that this, well, you can see the first verse says the sayings of King Lemuel and inspired utterance his mother taught him.

Some speculate that Lemuel devoted to God could have been a term of endearment that Bathsheba, his mom, called him.

Even though his name was Solomon, he might have called him, oh, you are my sweet little devoted one to God.

You're my Limuel.

And perhaps by the inspiration of God, as Solomon was about to end this entire book of wisdom writings, ultimately in a moment, talking about the virtuous woman, that he gave wisdom that maybe his own mother Bathsheba had relayed to him.

Here's what it says: the sayings of King Lemuel, an inspired utterance his mother taught him.

Listen, my son, listen, son of my womb, listen, my son, the answer to my prayers.

Do not spend your strength on women, your vigor on those who ruin kings.

It is not for kings, Lemuel.

It is not for kings to drink wine, not for rulers to crave beer, lest they drink and forget what has been decreed, and deprive all the oppressed of their rights.

Let beer be for those who are perishing, wine for those who are in anguish.

Let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more.

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.

Speak up and judge fairly.

Defend the rights of the poor and the needy.

Now it's an interesting way to begin this chapter where it's going to dovetail into this beautiful poem about the virtuous woman.

But as I read this, here's my big takeaway.

Those Jesus-loving mamas know.

So do what she says.

Look at all this very practical wisdom that this godly mom gave her son, who happens to be a ruler, a king.

Don't fall into ruin by chasing after sensuality.

Don't fall into ruin by chasing after substances that feel good and can help you escape, but can take you down.

And do stand for the ones who are poor, those who are needy, those who are unjustly treated.

Mama's given some great advice to a son who happens to be a king, warning her of these are the things that can take you down.

Don't do it.

It's not for kings, my son, for you to partake in these things.

And right after Solomon, inspired of God, writes these verses down, from mother to a king son, he begins this poem.

I don't know if you've read this large passage that ends the book of Proverbs before it's beautiful.

I'm just going to read it all straight up together.

We're not going to pause between the verses.

What's beautiful about this poem is it's an acrostic.

What Solomon did is every single verse that I'm about to read to you begins with a letter of the ancient Hebrew alphabet.

From Alef, the very first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, all the way to Tav.

Each verse begins with, in order, a letter of the alphabet, which is kind of cool and it's beautiful.

And it describes a woman of great virtue.

I would say before I read it, be careful not to view this as a checklist.

Like these are the things, these are the virtues, these are the attributes, these are the tasks that I must accomplish in order to be a virtuous woman, or what you might expect of someone.

But as I read it out loud, view this as a beautiful portrait, a poetic description of a woman who loves God.

Here's what it says Starting in verse 10 a wife of noble character who can find.

She is worth far more than rubies.

Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value.

She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.

She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands.

She is like the merchant ships bringing her food from afar.

She gets up while it is still night.

She provides food for her family and portions for her female servants.

She considers a field and buys it.

Out of her earnings, she plants a vineyard.

She sets about her work vigorously.

Her arms are strong for her tasks.

She sees that her trading is profitable and her lamp does not go out at night.

In her hand she holds the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers.

She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.

When it snows, she has no fear for her household, for all of them are clothed in scarlet.

She makes coverings for her bed.

She is clothed in fine linen and purple.

Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.

She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes.

She is clothed with strength and dignity.

She can laugh at the days to come.

She speaks with wisdom and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Her children arise and call her blessed.

Her husband also, and he praises her.

Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

It's a beautiful poem.

I've read this several times in memorial services of women who have worshipped here at Hickory Grove, women who have had faith in their Lord.

And kind of the easy takeaway of this beautiful poem would be this celebrate and give thanks to the virtuous, godly women in your life.

That's I think the easy takeaway here.

That this is what I take away from this poem.

It's a celebration of a woman who made such a big difference in the life of everyone who is around her family, her husband, her kids, those who knew her.

Celebrate and give thanks.

But I would also say another takeaway here is that the beautiful life is a godly life.

And I think that's really what was being said at the end of this beautiful poem when it said in verse 30, Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

And the truth is, is for all of our lives, men, women, boys, girls, at some point in our lives, we're always thinking about like better.

We just want something better.

And it might be beauty, actual physical beauty, trying to make ourselves look better, uh, be healthier, you know, uh fight against the uh the path we're on to continue to age and weaken.

Um that's the path I think a lot about these days.

I've been told that I'm losing my muscle mass the older I get.

I can't afford that.

Uh so therefore I'm counting my protein grams every day, wanting to get more of that in my life.

It's a thing that we do.

I'm not saying that it's bad that we think about those things, but there's even something greater that we pursue, that we chase after beyond the beauty of this world, beyond our own physical beauty, beyond the beauty that we're trying to achieve that is temporary, it's fleeting, it won't last.

But the kind of beauty that is a life centered on God, that life is a life that makes a difference now and forever and ever and ever.

If we go back and read this poem again and we begin to list all the mundane hard tasks that it mentions, there's a lot of them listed there.

Like buying and selling is mentioned, sewing, cooking, um, working hard.

It even talks about not getting a lot of sleep.

That was mentioned in there.

I'm like, now that's normal, isn't it?

That's the real life that we live at times.

It's a lot of tasks, a lot of things that we have to get done, a lot of mundane day to day tasks that we're a part of.

I love that it mentions.

That?

Because I actually believe that sometimes the life that we're trying to live is a life that escapes that.

And then I do think we should take breaks from that.

I do believe we should sabbath from those tasks, that we shouldn't always be working and doing all those things.

But the truth of the matter is, is that really the beauty of our lives is when Christ is in that day-to-day life, when he's the center of everything that we're doing, all the mundane tasks, all the things that are required of us that we do each and every day, that if Christ is in the center of it, that that is a beautiful life.

In other words, live a beautiful life by being in awe of God in the daily grind, the day-to-day grind.

Love God and love people while we buy and sell, while we eat and sleep, while we get up and work, while we clock in, while we clock out, while we study, while we turn in homework, while we laugh, while we play, while we train, while we perform, in all of the things that we're constantly doing, that's a part of our day-to-day life.

If we be in awe of God in the midst of it, if we love Him and worship Him as the center of all of it, that is actually the beautiful life that we can live.

So my challenge to all of us is put Jesus in all of it.

And if we do, you'll be surprised at how it changes you and impacts others.

As I think about all the ladies that God has put in my life and the ones that I showed you pictures of earlier, I witness this.

I see the grind of their day-to-day life and what they did, how they worked.

My mama, who I showed you the first picture of, she was the head cafeteria lady of my high school, which I loved because I could go get that extra cookie.

Back then they made homemade yeast rolls in the cafeteria.

I don't know if they still do that or not, uh, but man, uh I loved having the inside person in the cafeteria, my mama.

But I saw how she grinded out her daily life.

She worked really hard.

She took care of siblings who got ill that she would take into her home and they lived with her, and that was her daily grind.

She worked so hard.

I've seen my own wife do the same thing, a front row seat to how hard she works in order to be able to provide and do the things she has done for our kids, for me, for our life that we live.

It's a grind.

But when you put Jesus in the middle of all of that, even the mundane things that are a part of life turn so beautiful.

So when I think about what God would ask of you today, I think that's it.

He's not necessarily going to parachute you out of the daily grind that you're living each and every day.

He's not necessarily going to take your life and move it out of the pain that you might go through.

Hearing Missy share her testimony, and I think about the stories of the ladies in my life.

Uh my mamma, who I showed you a picture of, my mother-in-law, both cancer survivors.

Um, just there's going to be pain.

There's going to be tough things that we experience in life.

But the beauty of it is with Christ in the center of our lives, reigning on the throne of our hearts, man, it's going to be beautiful.

Even though sometimes it's hard.

Even though the grind can be tough at times.

I'm so thankful for the women in my life who kept Christ at the center, even when it was difficult, even when it was hard.

So honestly, here on Mother's Day, my invitation to you is make Jesus the center.

And I would have all of us to do that.

That whatever it is that you're chasing after, if it isn't him, if it isn't his will for you, if it isn't the story he's writing in your life, that you now do a switcheroo and kick whatever's on the throne of your heart, off the throne of your heart, and allow him to be your king.

And do life his way.

Let him reign.

Let him walk with you through the stuff that you're going through.

Let him make your life beautiful.

You may feel like it's not, though.

There's so much I'm dealing with, there's so much I'm carrying right now.

Like we said before, whatever broken pieces you might be carrying, God is the great creator and artist.

And he can make all things beautiful, no matter how broken they might be, no matter how much you feel like there's no way he can turn this into something beautiful.

I'm telling you right now, I've seen it over and over and over again.

He will make it beautiful.

And I would say, only he can.

Only he can.

I believe the beautiful life is a desperate life.

Where we're just desperate for Jesus.

We're just utterly dependent on him above all things.

We're like, God, we just you have to take all of this and make it what you want it to be.

You have to give me your wisdom and direction because I'll mess it up if you don't tell me what to do.

I will do life your way instead of my way.

Those are all the things that will make your life have a spiritually beautiful impact on others and will be transformative in your own heart.

I don't know what you were feeling when you walked into here, this room, or if you jumped online here on Mother's Day.

Maybe your heart felt light and celebrative and happy.

Maybe it felt a little heavy, or maybe it felt hurt, or maybe all of it at the same time, for whatever reason.

My invitation to you today is take all of that and come to the maker of your heart and say, take it all, God.

I give this all to you, and I ask that you make it what you want it to be, that you make it beautiful for your glory and for my good and for my family's good.

Let's ask Him to do that right now as we pray.

Will you bow with me?

Father, Lord, I thank you for this beautiful passage of this virtuous woman who chose you being at the center over temporary beauty that's fleeting.

Father, right now in this place, as we have celebrated Mother's Day, as we have talked about the amazing impact of women in our lives who have loved you well and loved others well.

Lord, I pray that perhaps someone here, someone watching, listening online, just needed to hear the open invitation that whatever they're carrying right now, they can come and bring it to you, and you can take it and you can transform it into something absolutely beautiful.

You did it in my mama's life, my stepmom's life, my mom's life, my wife's life.

Every woman that I've ever met who has a relationship with you, I've seen their story of brokenness turned into beauty.

So, Father, I pray that you would begin to write that new chapter today as people all over this room, not just the ladies, but men, all of us together saying, God, we need you.

Only you can take these pieces and turn it into something beautiful.

Father, we cry out to you even now and ask that you do just that today.

Father, we love you so much.

Thank you for how you heal the broken, how you make all things beautiful, no matter what.

We trust in you now.

We pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.